Making The Move Into Modern Jail Commissioners Plan Open House To Show Off $7.1 Million Project

February 16, 1986|By Gina Thomas of The Sentinel Staff

KISSIMMEE — Osceola County sheriff's officials say they are going to take a light- years leap into the future next month when they leave the Stone Age for Star Wars.

The move from cramped offices and a deteriorating jail into the new, state- of-the-art Criminal Justice Facility is certain to create some culture shock. Corrections officers soon will be monitoring inmates from mini- television screens and panels full of blinking lights and dozens of buttons.

They will have a panoramic view of every cellblock from the top of the two jail ''pods,'' designed to hold 208 inmates. They will have plenty of land to expand the pods to hold twice the number of inmates.

They will be cooking from a kitchen designed to feed an army. They will wash and dry their own laundry instead of hauling it twice a week to Orange County, where corrections officers used that jail's laundry facilities.

''People kid us about this,'' said Sheriff's Maj. Lee Watko, ''but it is like going from the Stone Age into the Space Age.''

Watko said Osceola County commissioners plan to schedule an open house soon so the taxpayers can see how much of a bang they are getting for their buck. Some features in the $7.1 million, high-tech facility include:

Investigators have been crammed into the old offices beneath the courthouse on Vernon Avenue. One of the problems is the lack of room to interview witnesses or suspects in private; the administration building has the space.

The two hectagon-shaped buildings contain the two jail pods. Within them are the main control area with 24 television monitors to cover all crucial areas of the jail and electronic controls for the doors, lights, locks and fire and smoke alarms, as well as for the fence in the sallyport where inmates are brought in.

-- A more secure visitors lobby. Watko said visiting hours at the old jail interrupt operations and force officials ''to open doors that shouldn't be open.''

Unlike the old jail, there will be no contact between guests and inmates, making it difficult -- if not impossible -- to smuggle in drugs or weapons.

-- Intake and reception area where prisoners are booked is designed with two computers to hook into the criminal justice information system, a program that contains booking and court case information.

The area also contains much-needed holding cells, a waiting room, medical screening room, an infirmary and two sickroom cells.

Sick inmates now are sent to hospitals even though the illness may not require it. In the new jail, those inmates who don't require hospital care will stay in sickroom cells, to be watched by nurses. Money will be saved on unnecessary hospital bills and on correction officers who must guard hospital doors.

Extra private cells are available for inmates with contagious illnesses.

-- The kitchen facilities allow for more storage and refrigeration. Watko said the lack of space in the old jail forces corrections offices to purchase groceries more frequently, which often costs more.

-- On the second floor, overlooking the pods, are two other control rooms with more panels of blinking lights. Guards can see inside all of the cellblocks and can control the doors, lights and fire and smoke alarms from the panels.

Computers indicate whether doors are locked; monitors tell whether there is too much noise. If inmates speak loud enough, their conversations can be heard on the monitors.

Such eavesdropping devices are designed to determine whether inmates are sawing through cell bars, for example, Watko said. ''They don't have anything to do all day but to think of ways to get out,'' he said.

-- The new jail has a fenced-in recreation area with a basketball court -- allowing for exercise that couldn't be permitted outside the crowded old jail. The cellblocks contain program areas for counseling and studying.

Watko said sheriff's officials plan to move the inmates by the middle of next month. The date is secret to prevent anyone from attempting an escape, he said.